To relieve the pain from a neck injury like whiplash or stiffness and pain from overuse and strained the neck muscles and joints there are a number of helpful exercises you can do. Besides easing pain, exercises like this are meant to regain any lost movement and muscle control.

These and any neck pain exercises should be done slowly and with controlled movements. Keep your jaw and mouth relaxed during the exercises with the teeth slightly apart but the lips together and the tongue on the roof of your mouth. You should also keep the shoulders relaxed while doing these exercises. You should also stop if the pain increases or if you notice any new pain while doing the exercises.

Exercise 1 – Chin Nod

1.            Lie down with a pillow under the neck and your knees up.

2.            Gently move your head forward like you are nodding “yes”. Stop the motion just before you the muscles at the front of the neck harden.

3.            Hold this for five seconds, relax, and ease your head back to its normal position.

Repeat 10 times.

Exercise 2 – Head Rotation

1.            From the same position, turn your head from side to side gently.

2.            Move your head a little farther each time so that eventually your chin is lined up with your shoulder.

Repeat 10 times.

Exercise 3 – Shoulder Blades

The point of this exercise is to get rid of tightness in the muscles at the top of your shoulders.

1.            With your head on top of two pillows, lie on your right side.

2.            Move the left shoulder blade back towards the middle of your back.

3.            Hold this for 10 seconds.

Repeat this 5 times on each side.

Exercise 4 – Neck Retraction

1.            Sit tall with your shoulders back and down.

2.            Pull your head back while keeping your nose pointed ahead. This retraction movement can be felt at the base of the neck, just below the head.

Repeat this 10 times an hour whenever you are sitting.

These exercises are the type you should do when you first begin to feel neck pain. There are other exercises designed to strengthen the muscles in your neck, but they should only be done later on in the recover period.